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WASHINGTON — President Obama was welcomed like a returning war hero yesterday by hundreds of ecstatic US troops during a surprise visit to Iraq.

The presidential pop-in provided Obama with a stunning photo op as soldiers mobbed him, trying for handshakes and hugs, many snapping shots with their own cameras.

The televised, four-star lovefest likely will prove critical to the credibility of a liberal commander-in-chief as he tries to sell the American public on the grim prospects now facing the country in Afghanistan.

The stealthy, four-hour visit and Obama’s remarks were all that much more notable because of his strenuous opposition to the Iraq war from before it began, and his commitment to end it now that he is president.

And when the president began his brief remarks by saying “Thank you,” someone volleyed back: “You’re welcome!”

And throughout, Marines could be heard punctuating Obama’s remarks with a sometimes boisterous, sometimes reverent “Hoo-ah!”

The troops in Iraq were visibly grateful.

“It makes me feel like he actually cares to where he’d come out here and talk to us,” said Army Spc. Joshua Tisdale, from Pekin, Ill.

Added Sgt. First Class Floyd Robinson, of Bessemer, Ala., “Soldiers need to see their commander-in-chief.”

They were among 600 wildly cheering American warriors at Camp Victory in Baghdad who gathered to hear Obama declare: “Under enormous strain and under enormous sacrifice, through controversy and difficulty and politics, you’ve kept your eyes focused on just doing your job.

“And because of that, every mission that’s been assigned — from getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections — you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country.

“That is an extraordinary achievement, and for that, you have the thanks of the American people.”

“It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis,” he said to applause from the soldiers.

“They need to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty.”

In February, Obama announced he will withdraw most of the 140,000 combat troops by 2010.

The next year and a half, Obama told the troops, will be a “critical period” for US troops keeping the peace and training Iraqi replacements.

“Just as we thank you for what you’ve already accomplished, I want to say thank you because you will be critical in terms of us being able to make sure that Iraq is stable, that it is not a safe haven for terrorists, that it is a good neighbor and a good ally and we can start bringing our folks home,” Obama said.

Flying secretly with Obama from Turkey to Baghdad, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president picked Iraq for his war-zone visit instead of Afghanistan because it was closer and also because progress “lies in political solutions.”

In addition to visiting the troops, Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who said afterward that he had “assured the president that all the progress that has been made in the security area will continue.”

Obama flew into Iraq shrouded by secrecy and was shielded by heavy security from the moment he stepped off a gleaming white and blue Air Force One.

The plane touched down a few hours after a car bombing in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital punctuated a recent surge in violence in the war-ravaged country. With Post Wire Services